


Too Late

by LI0NH34RT



Series: Thiam Prompts [20]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Sadness, Thiam, Unrequited Love?, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 01:52:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14906192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LI0NH34RT/pseuds/LI0NH34RT
Summary: "I never told you, but I was falling in love."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maraudersourwolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maraudersourwolf/gifts).



> For Des. I am terribly sorry and I hope you still like it, even if I am very late. ♡

_All love stories end with a kiss. This story starts with one._

 

When Theo kisses Liam for the first time, it is out of boredom. The two boys are lounging on Liam's bed, both of them attempting to do some homework, as the beta feels Theo’s eyes on him. And when he turns around, lips already parted to ask if there was a problem, the Chimera smashes his mouth on Liam’s cheek. He leaves the other boy no time to react before he pulls back, smirks and returns to his homework as if nothing happened.

 

The next time it’s Liam (who’s brain has, after intense thinking, come to the weird conclusion that this has to be some sort of game they were playing now) who kisses Theo.

 

The two boys are in the kitchen, prepping dinner for themselves since Jenna and David are still at work.  
“Can you hand me the bell pepper?” Liam holds out his hand while his eyes are still glued to the recipe (“This time nothing will burn, promise Mum!”). As soon as he feels the vegetable on his palm, he smiles at Theo.  
“Thanks T.!” And presses a smack to the Chimera’s cheek as he grasps for the knife block behind the shocked boy.

 

And when he thinks of Theo’s seaglass eyes and his soft smile at night, when he lies in his bed, then that means nothing.

 

From then on it turns into a game, then a ritual and lastly it simply becomes a reflex. Every time one of them asks for a small favour or wants attention they steal a kiss.

 

Neither Theo nor Liam react to the confused looks and questions the other pack members have. It is their thing and if they need no explanation for the actions, neither does everybody else.  
Liam doesn’t think about the feelings Theo's lips wake in him, the careful fluttering of his stomach and the warmth spreading from the kissed place.  
Liam doesn’t question when their kisses move closer and closer to their lips until, one day, they will kiss for real.

 

The whole family sits on the various cushions around the Geyer’s living room, Jenna and David on the large two-seat, Liam and Theo sharing the loveseat because neither of them wants to sit on the ground.  
Liam, too lazy to move, asks for the popcorn and Theo, still determined to be useful and earn his stay with the Geyer's, hands him the desired bowl.

  
With a light ‘Thanks!’ the beta turns to Theo, not caring about his parents, and this time his lips land right in the middle of Theo's. It was not intentional and he can feel Theo grow stiff, his beautiful seaglass eyes widened as Liam’s own close.  
A spark runs through Liam’s whole body and when they finally break the kiss, he just smiles softly before turning back to the TV.

 

It is only a few minutes later when Theo, who had still been frozen, abruptly stands up, his voice and muscles tight as he mumbles something about being tired and wanting to go to bed.

Confused looks follow the dark haired boy, but soon enough everyone decides that the movie is more interesting.  
Only Liam stares at the staircase a little longer, as if Theo would come back when he just wishes hard enough for it. He already misses the Chimera’s warmth next to him and his wolf stirs in his chest.

One hour later the movie is over and everyone is contemplating to just sleep in the living room instead of having to relocate to their beds.  
When Liam finally enters his room, he instantly knows that something is wrong, the smell around his bed is off. He takes a deep breath, trying to decipher the chemo signals. Theo. Theo had been standing here, in front of his bed, smelling all wrong; like sadness and worry and... regret?

 

In that moment a simple yellow post it note catches his eye. It lies innocently on his pillow, right in the middle of his unmade bed, a little spot of order against his chaos, which is so typically Theo that Liam just knows it was him who left it there.

 

_I am sorry, Liam. I have to go, I cant do this anymore. Thank you for everything._  
_PS: I never told you, but I was falling in love._

 

“Mum!”, Liam yells, unable to get out more than this one syllable. His throat feels too tight and something has his heart in an iron grip.

“Liam?”, Jenna, followed by her husband enters the room, “what is it?”  
But the blonde boy only holds out the piece of paper, already crinkled from his trembling hands.

  
“Oh honey...” his mum sighs, “I thought you knew.”  
“To be honest, I think everyone did”, David adds.  
“We just thought it was the way your relationship worked. Little kisses, no attention or big announcement needed...”

 

Liam’s brain comes back to life while they speak, just to start working in over drive.

  
Theo is gone. Theo loves him. Theo thinks he doesn't love him back. Theo is gone. Theo loves him.

He whips around, already pulling his previously discarded hoodie back on while he makes his way over to the door.

 

“Where are you going?”  
“I am bringing him back.”

 

_And the post it note floats to the ground, forgotten._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh look! This is a two-parter now! :D

His mind is blank since Liam has kissed him and so he doesn’t think as he pulls out his old duffel bag from the depth of Liam’s closet (he really thought he wouldn’t need it anymore. Foolish.) and mechanically starts packing the few clothes he can call his own.

He doesn’t cry as he writes a little explanation and places it neatly in the pillow centre.

He doesn’t write ‘Don’t follow me’ because secretly he wants Liam to run after him, to hug him tight and never let go again. Somewhere deep in the heart that isn’t even his own, he still has a reminder of _Maybe._ Maybe, I can be happy. Maybe I deserve it. Maybe this is home.

But his brain (always the most certain, most reliable part of him) knows that the beta doesn’t see him that way, his little wolf thinks this is still a game.

 

For Theo it has stopped being a game the moment his lips touched the soft skin of Liam’s cheek.

 

As soon as he climbed out of the window, carefully pulling it shut after him, a feeling of finality runs through him, replacing the numbness; as soon as he sits in his truck, key in the ignition, he feels the regret burning.

 

But Theo has always been good at looking out for himself, at running before getting hurt, and so he turns the key and the blue truck disappears into the night without a sound or trace.

 

Soon darkness will have forgotten all about Theo Raeken.

 

~♤~

 

Of course Liam doesn’t find him that night.

It is dark outside and late and his senses are tired, lazy from the peaceful times they live in nowadays.

 

But he doesn’t give up. He calls everyone. The pack, the allies, the friends. Everyone tells him that they will find Theo. The sympathetic tone they use tells him different.

It says: If Theo really wanted to disappear, he will not be found.

It says: He is good at that, running away, he has done it before.

 

Liam knows that. But he also knows what the shaking hand that wrote the note (he picked it up from the floor, still keeping it on him) is telling him.

Whatever Theo thinks he is doing, there is some part of him that _wants_ Liam to find him. Bring him back.

 

And that hope is what leads Liam to pack a bag himself. He writes a note tooand the irony isn’t lost on him as he takes a last look at the yellow post it note on the kitchen table.

And when he pulls the door shut behind him the feeling of hope grows like a sprouting flower.

 

The hope leads him out of Beacon Hills, out of the county.

After driving for so long Liam has lost the feel for time, his nose finally picks up a whiff of the familiar, sorely missed scent.

 

Liam parks the car, he gets out and closes his eyes, letting his nose and heart take the lead.

 

When he opens his eyes again, taking a first look on his surroundings, he realizes that he should have known. The flower of hope in his chest flutters like heartbeat, of course Theo is here.

Liam stands at the parking lot of a small, private beach. He hears the waves and the wind and he feels the freedom that this place brings.

 

“ _Where do you want to go, Theo?”_

“ _You know, I have never been at the ocean...”_

 

“ _This place is beautiful. Peaceful. Don’t you think Liam? This is what freedom feels like!”_

 

The ocean is the only place Theo feels completely at peace.

The city is too crowded, the woods remind him of the wild hunt.

The school and hospital of the dread doctors.

 

Liam smiles carefully, still not daring to hope his search is finally over, and makes his way to the hidden stone steps, carved into the cliff by people long gone.

 

When he steps into the sand, his bare toes touching the cool ground, he takes a deep breath, inhaling the freedom that comes with the fresh breeze.

 

And there, only a few meters away, lies the old tree stump they used to sit at.

And on it – Liam feels the relive pulsing through him – sits a familiar dark haired boy, hunched over and clothed in Liam’s old hoodie.

Theo.

The beta makes his way over to him, quiet for once, as all words seem to be to little, too hollow for this moment.

He stays silent when he sits down, carefully leaving space between their thighs, but still close enough to feel Theo’s warmth.

 

His hands close around the Chimera's cold fingers, holding them tight as the two boys stare at the unruly sea together.

 

The flower of hope begins to bloom.

 

~♤~

 

It feels like an eternity when Theo finally turns, his eyes, a little more grey than green today meet Liam’s.

“You found me.” Is everything that comes out of his mouth.

And Liam laughs, the sound is nearly unreal for both of them and light as a breeze of fresh air: “I will always find you, Theo.”

 

That is enough for now. Everything else they will sort out later. For now it is just them, sitting on the old tree stump, watching the place where waves meet the shore.

 

_And then a wrinkled yellow post it note whirls through the air, carried away by the wind, its message grown irrelevant._

 

 

 


End file.
